Hiding the enlightened
by travellingendlessly
Summary: They were coming, of that I was sure. No one so much as whispers his name without being hunted down and being made an example of. If they caught us, it would mean definite death, no doubt. But if they caught Harry, it would be the end of everything.
1. Prologue the sacrifice

A/N: This is my first dramione fic So I really hope you don't hate it. Review and let me know :)

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><p><em>They were coming, of that I was sure. No one so much as whispers his name without being hunted down and being made an example of. If he caught us, it would mean definite death, no doubt. But if he caught Harry, it would be the end of this battle and the end of the world as we know it. He would fulfil his own dreams; immortality, leader of the magical world, crushing muggles, muggle borns and blood traitors alike, forever. All hope would be lost, the boy who lived would turn to the boy who died and the order would crumble. So we had only one choice; run. <em>

_The forest was thick and overgrown. Roots and stems caught around my legs, attempting to jostle me to the ground but I pushed, willing for them to give up and return to the black pit of hatred and selfishness that they appeared from. I could hear the heavy breaths of my pursuer and the thudding of his feet as he chased after me. I flicked round and shot a hex in his direction, hitting him directly in the chest. Adrenalin and fear coursed through my veins and I ran like I never had before, begging in my mind that Ron and Harry had escaped; they had to escape. And then hit me. A plan to distract the snatchers constructed itself in my mind and I knew what I had to do._

_Knowing Harry and Ron were ahead of me, I simply stopped. No fighting, no curses or hexes. I just stopped. It worked; they all stopped with me and gawked with looks of confusion crossing their faces. I had mere seconds to ensure that they would go for me and not Harry and Ron so I pounced. I leapt on at the nearest follower and began flicking my wand, firstly at him and then at the rest. I was outnumbered, I knew, but this would be enough of a distraction for their dim-witted minds that they would forget about the others. Their brains slowly kicked in and soon I was captured._

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><p>Short prologue, I know. Sorry!<p> 


	2. Chapter 1: Torture

"The sword! Where did you get it?" Bellatrix Lestrange yelled as my mind drifted from sleep to consciousness. Blinking, forcing the blind spots from my vision, the past hour returned to the forefront of my mind. In a blind rage, Ron had forgotten the imposing taboo that had been placed over Voldemort's name and as he screamed at Harry, he had said it. After an attempt to run from the enclosing pilfering men that had responded to the taboo, I had sacrificed myself to them in an attempt to let Ron and harry run free and get out of that forest and continue on the quest to hunt down the horcruxes. I had been captured by the ministries henchmen and had been bought to Malfoy Manor, which is where I now lay. I glanced at my surroundings. I was in a large room with tall ceilings and roof beams that towered far above me. With no windows and only the flickering light of a few candle stands, the room was mostly flung into darkness. In the corner of the room stood the 3 members of the Malfoy family, one of whom I knew, who I had spent 6 years of my life being tormented by, by the man that had tried and failed to kill the most powerful wizard of all time. But as I examined his appearance, he did not look like the cocky, intelligent boy that prided himself on blood purity and that we knew. In fact, he looked rather tormented.

He stood with his back slightly hunched, his head turned to the floor where it appeared that his eyes had begun to burn holes. His normal smirk had disappeared and been replaced by a constant grimace with his pale skin, if it were possible, even further pale than average. His usual perfectly groomed hair now stuck out with added volume and sweat, as though he had run his fingers through it numerous times. Suddenly, he looked over from the floor at his feet to where I was, catching my eye. His deep, grey eyes pooled into mine and I noticed the darkly tinged circles that ran under his eyes, almost as If he hadn't slept in days. The pain and recognition that sparked through his eyes alerted me to the situation at hand and I remembered what had happened.

These snatchers had been greedy, which according to what I had recently heard in a potter watch broadcast, most were, only doing this job to earn a few galleons and to laugh at the expense of the captured victim whom was almost always taken to the ministry for questioning. I was different however and I soon realised that they knew who I was with, who I was and it was the fact that I had been travelling with Harry Potter and that I was the current most wanted muggle born, that had bought me here. The greedy idiots had searched the tent and stripped it off the most valuable possessions including the sword of Godric Gryffindor, claiming it for their own and now the crazed servant of Voldemort himself was leaning into me as I lay on the cold stone floor, our faces inches apart, scrutinizing my face for a reaction. "The sword! Where did you get it?" she repeated, in a harsh tone and a sneer in her voice.

I began to analyse her reaction to the situation. The thought that we had somehow come into possession of the sword antagonized her, almost causing her to panic. I knew that I had barely minutes before she gave up on this form of questioning and resulted in torture. A response shot out of my mouth before I had a chance to think about it "I found it." She cackled and her eyebrows rose in amusement. "This sword is meant to be in my vault! One of the oldest, most protected vaults in the world, and you expect me to believe you found it?" she screamed, cackling again. I knew there was no point in replying. There was no way that she would believe the truth; that it had appeared to Harry in a frozen lake. So I decided to stay silent. There was a long pause as she glared into my eyes and I realised she was trying to force her way in using occlumency and I thanked god that I had made Harry teach me and Ron how to repel it while staying in the tent. I could feel the tugging feeling in my mind that meant she was trying to wrestle her way into my thoughts but I quickly pushed her out with quiet relief. Realising that she had been unsuccessful, her anger boiled.

"You filthy lying Mudblood!" she screamed with terror and enjoyment. My time was up. She sprung at me, grabbing my arm and muttering a dark enchantment, which I did not understand nor recognize. And then it started. Fire bubbled at my arm, spreading through my whole body until I was screaming in pain. The curse coursed through my veins like poison making me wretch and convulse in pain. My heart beat sped and tears streaked down my face as I felt the piercing edge of the wand that had murdered so many people, caused such pain and anguish, the wand that had murdered Sirius and drove Neville's parents to insanity, grate across my skin. The fire flung itself at my internal organs, causing them to twist and quiver in shock. My eyes flickered to the others in the room, to Draco Malfoy, looking directly at me. His face was warped with shock and confusion, his eyes trying to remove themselves from mine. I could hear the screams coming out of my throat but I could not feel them and as the pain reached my brain, I pushed myself to black out what was happening, ignore the pain, but it was too much and all I could do was take it and pray that my life would end soon. As I continued to scream in terror, I could see Bellatrix smiled and giggle in pure enjoyment.

And then it all ended. The pain had subsided and I could feel myself breathing again, feel the blood trickling down my arm and pooling beneath it. All that remained was a weight pressing down on my chest and hair tickling my face. I heard shocked gasps around the room and I felt the weight leave my chest and strong, warm arms lift me from the floor. I heard a woman's estranged cry in the distance and the strangers arms tightened as they muttered something back. I tried to force my brain to fight the shadow that the pain had left in it to attempt to calculate what was going on but the shadow was licking at my consciousness and soon all I could think of was the darkness that glossed my sight and thoughts.


	3. Chapter 2: Awakening

A/n: This is a long chapter and I haven't really figured out how long they're going to be yet. Hope you like it and please review.

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><p>Crying.<p>

Crying and sobbing.

That was the first thing that I could hear, informing me that I had become conscious.

Keeping my eyes shut, I tried to use my other senses to take in my environment. I was cold and I could hear the gentle whooping of the wind as the soft sound of colliding leaves sounded around me. That meant I was outside.

My body had become stiff and I realised that I was lying on something hard and not particularly flat. Slowly moving my fingers mere millimetres, I felt the dryness and heard the crunch of browning leaves and an image of a forest struck though my mind.

My eyes finally fluttered open and my idea was confirmed; I was lying flat on the floor of a small clearing in the middle of a forest. Oak trees towered high above me and the greying, darkening sky told me that it was soon to be night.

An echoed sob alerted my back to the noise that had awakened me. Somewhere around me, someone was crying. In order to find the source and attempt to diminish the stiffness that hung in my back, I slowly sat up. My eyes flickered to the owner of the sobs and I saw those platinum blonde locks that I recognised from earlier. Him.

I jolted back, shuffling on my hands and knees to get away from him, never taking my eyes off of him in fear of what he would do. His eyes shot up from the ground and pooled straight into mine, sparking with looks of pain and guilt.

He returned his glare to the ground and I could tell that he was trying to stop the crying. I sat, scrutinizing his face, attempting to decipher what had happened and how we had ended up here.

After what felt like an hour, I finally built up the courage to ask the now silent Malfoy about the events that had led us here.

"Malfoy? What..." the words caught in my throat and I pressed on. "What happened?" He didn't respond and for a moment I thought that maybe he had not heard me at all. No, he must have; his brow furrowed further. I decided to ask again.

"Malfoy, please. Where are we?" I whispered.

"I don't know." He replied at a hardly audible volume.

I then begun to scour both the surroundings and my memories, searching for the answers that Malfoy didn't hold. I remembered most of the events at the manor including being attacked by Bellatrix, yet nothing after it and the forest simply resembled the thousands of others up and down the country, that was if we even in England anymore.

"Malfoy, I.." I stammered. "I don't understand; one minute I'm at your manor being... being tortured by your aunt and the next we're here? What happened?"

"For Merlin's sake, Granger, I don't know! She was... she was torturing you, she was going to call him, you would have died... you... I just, I couldn't ...I couldn't." It comforted me to know that he was struggling to speak just as much as I was and yet his explanation completely confused me. What was he trying to say? I knew I was probably going to die back there and yet here I was, standing in some strange forest with my enemy, the nephew of my torturer, the boy who had stood by and let her do it...And then it clicked.

Someone had stopped Bellatrix; someone had stunned her and that was the weight that had landed on top of me. Someone had stopped her and saved me; picked me up and carried me out of there. I was right; Malfoy had been there but he hadn't just stood by. He was the one who had stopped her. He was the one to carry me out and then he must have apparated us here.

10 minutes ago, I thought that figuring out exactly what had happened would have cleared my mind of the confusion; that I would be able to move on, away from Malfoy and back the order, yet it had only confused me so much more.

'you... you saved me?" No response. Great. "Malfoy? You stopped her and saved me?"

"Shut up! Shut up!" he yelled.

"I don't understand. Why would you do that?"

"I don't know, you filthy mudblood! It's you! It's all your fucking fault!" Mudblood. He'd said Mudblood. Exactly like she had; in the exact same tone with the exact same snarl in his voice. My thoughts flickered back to the manor and I tried to not let the tears that were forming in my eyes fall, but it was too late. Mudblood. That was the word that she'd taunted me with, the one that separated me from them, the one she had carved into my arm.

Remembering this, I pulled up my dirty jacket. The freshly cut would sat there, scraped into my arm in her handwriting, still weeping blood that was trickling down my arm and collecting on my jumper, creating a large red stain. I heard a soft groan of guilt and I begun to stroke my little finger over the carved lettering, wincing at the pain of the contact. It was like a brand, like a cow that had been marked for slaughter. To them it symbolised filth, inferiority and disgust, to him. Anger bubbled inside of me.

"I bet you just love this don't you? I'm finally branded for everyone to see. Everyone can now know that I'm just a mudblood, a stupid magic stealing mudblood!" I screamed.

"Stop it!"

"why? It's true! I'm only filth to you! Someone to kick around! Is this all part the plan? His plan? You pretend to save me and trap me?"

"NO!" He screamed with such anger, volume and determination that it echoed throughout the forest. I went quiet and just stared at him, trying to deduce something, some information which might tell me what the hell I was meant to do in a situation like this. He had saved me. A deatheater who has spent the last 7 years practically bullying me because of my blood status had saved me. I was pretty sure that nothing I had ever read in and out of the Hogwarts library had explained what to do in this situation.

I saw from the corner of my eye that Malfoy had turned his head in my direction and was looking directly at me yet I refused to meet his gaze.

"Your blood... it's not..." he struggled. "It's not dirty... it's just like mine, see?" He lifted his right sleeve. I gasped. His forearm was marked with numerous scars across his wrists, with blood seeping from the most recent.

"I had to stop her" he whispered.

"But why?"

"I don't know! For fuck sake, Granger, I don't know! And now I fucked up! My life's over, I can't go home." He paused. "They'll say I'm a blood traitor for saving you. He'll kill me in an instant! I'll be dinner for that stupid snake! And what about my family? They'll have to pay the consequences of my actions! If I go home he'll make them sit and watch as I get tortured and poisoned. If I stay away, it'll be just as bad! I have nowhere to go."

My answer just shot out of my mouth before I had even thought about it; "We could go to the order."

A dark, riveting cackle echoed and I flinched at the memory of his aunt doing the same.

"You think that they'll help me? I'm a deatheater Granger. I tried to kill Dumbledore. They'll take one look at me and instantly hex me, take me captive. No, I have nowhere to go. "

"But you didn't did you? You didn't kill him Malfoy and you saved me. I don't know why you did, but that's got to count for something." He seemed to think that over and he begun to stare off into space. Knowing he wouldn't answer me, I decided not to push the question as to why he had done it.

"Where exactly are we anyway?" I said, looking around once again.

"New forest, I read about it once and apparated us here once we left the wards." He said. Well at least he was answering my questions know. Progress.

I began to walk around, planning what I was going to do. I couldn't go back to the order, they'd try and forced me to tell them about what the three of us had been up to the past few months and Dumbledore had insisted that as little people knew as possible. I couldn't return to Harry and Ron either; they would be long gone by now and could be anywhere. Great, looks like I was stuck with Malfoy.

A twinge in my arm reminded me of the still bleeding cut on my arm and I knew that I would have to do something about it.

"Malfoy, where's my wand?" snapping him out of his thoughts, he stared up at me and processed my words. Nodding his head to his left side, I saw my wand sitting next to my bag. " Oh thank Merlin."

I walked up to him, grabbing my wand and bag and instantly accio'd for the dittany I kept. Sprinkling it over my wound, I noticed Malfoy looking at it.

"That won't work."

He was right; it didn't. I then started spurting all the spells I knew that should have healed the wound. None of them worked either. I looked at Malfoy questioningly. He huffed.

"It's dark magic, none of your stuff is going to fix it." I looked at my arm and then at him thoughtfully.

"Well do you know how to heal it?" He looked at me and then at my arm. Huffing once more he yanked his wand out from his robes.

"Hold still." He softly took my hand in his and our eyes instantly met. Muttering a spell, he waved his wand in soft motions over the cut and it eventually began to heal.

"Thank you." He ignored me and went back to sitting by his tree.

I then started placing wards around us to create some means of protection for us while we stayed here.

"What are you doing?"

"Putting wards up"

"Why?"

"Because we're sitting here, with no protection what so ever. Anyone could walk though and kill us."

That answer seemed to satiate his questioning for the time being so just watched me.

Once I had finished, I returned to my bag and accio'd out the spare tent. As I began opening it out, the questions started again.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm putting up a tent Malfoy, what does it look like I'm doing?"

"No, that's not what I meant. What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you have run back to your pathetic little order by now?"

"I can't go back."

"Why?"

"Look Malfoy, You may have saved my life but as you said so yourself, you're still a deatheater. I am not about to tell you all the inner workings of the order so just stop it." That shut him up, for all of two minutes anyway.

"Well what about potty and weaselbee then?"

"I can't, I don't know where they are." This seemed to confuse him but rather than press the matter he changed the subject.

"So what are you going to do now then?"

"Well considering you have nowhere to go and nor do I, I think we better stay here until we can figure out what we're going to do and where we're going to go, don't you?"

He looked at me for a while and eventually nodded his head.

"Great, well are you going to help me or not?"


	4. Chapter 3:The announcement

Living with Malfoy was worse than I imagined. Once he had gotten over the shock of the events in the manor, he had returned to his usual snarky, conniving git that I knew him to be. We argued. A lot. Over the tiniest of things; whose turn it was to go on watch, whose turn it was to cook, where we should move to next, how often we should move. The list was never ending and most of the time, these arguments ended in screaming matches with neither of us willing to admit defeat.

He'd never used that word though, the one that had recently been carved into my arm with only a small scar in its place. I had often wondered as to why but always came up blank.

The time we didn't spend screaming at each other, we both spent reading. I was once again researching horcruxes, trying to decipher where the next could be while Malfoy read the books that I had leant him out of boredom. Of course I hadn't told Malfoy about the subject of my reading, in fact, I had used a lot of concealment charms to try and cover for myself. However, I knew he had his suspicions about what I was reading as he had caught me placing the concealment charms on my books a few times.

On one of the nights that I sat on watch, I sat facing the outside of the tent, leaning against the front centre pole. I had been reading about how to destroy the horcruxes when I suddenly remembered the wireless radio. Jumping up, I ran into the tent, alerting Malfoy, and started searching through my bag for it. Finding it, I started tapping at it, whispering the password that had been announced on the last potterwatch broadcast. Finally, I managed to tune in.

"Once again, we apologise for our absence from the airwaves. As always, finding a deatheater free location is becoming trickier by the minute" she recognised Lee Jordon's voice. "I'm pleased to tell you that not only am I accompanied by our two most regular contributors, we are also met by the newcomer, Royal. However, before we begin tonight's discussion we have a few announcements."

"Now sadly, the list of those missing and those passed continues to grow. Those that we know that have sadly recently passed include: Susan bones, Lauren Buchan, Anthony smith" The list continued for a while and with each name I felt my heart sink slightly deeper each time.

"Our deepest sympathies and thoughts go to all those who have both passed and who have lost someone. Remember, we can win this, keep fighting. Now to those who are missing; Rebecca Peet, Dean Thomas, Ted Tonks..." Again, the list rambled off with many names that I recognised. "And finally" 'Rodent' or as I knew him to be; Fred Weasley took in a deep strangled breath. "Hermione Granger."

My heart stopped. Malfoy's head shot up to gauge my reaction. Of course they thought I was missing, I hadn't had contact with any of them for over a week now, I should have assumed this was going to happen eventually. This meant that they had been in contact with the order. Were they all planning a way to try and save me? Where they going to run into Malfoy manor, wands raised in an attempt to rescue me? Hundreds of thoughts ran across my mind all at once.

I let out a quaking breath that I hadn't realised that I'd been holding. What was I doing? Running around the country side, hiding out with Draco Malfoy? I had been selfish; I had forgotten that the boys had no idea that I was safe and that I was free from the death eaters. Well, not entirely free.

My eyes shot to Malfoy as he stared at me. "I need to go back." I whispered

"You need to go back? What do you mean you need to go back?" His voice was rising into anger.

"They have no idea if I'm dead or alive, you heard the broadcast! I'm missing! I have no choice!" I replied.

"You said you couldn't go back! You said-"I interrupted him.

"I know what I said! I thought I couldn't go back because then they'd wouldn't let me go again so I could search for the-." I stopped myself short. The rage that had bubbled inside me at his demanding questions had mixed with the sadness and confusion that the broadcast had caused. Anger shot through me. I was angry at myself; how could I have almost told him? He'd run straight back to Voldemort with this brand new information and that would be his foot back into the life of the deatheaters.

"Search for what, Granger?" My eyes shot to him. He'd noticed my anger at my own actions and was pushing them for a reaction.

"What exactly have you been researching for the past week? You can't keep your nose out of a book for longer than 5 minutes." He pushed further.

"Nothing!"

"Oh do you really think I'm that stupid? You're searching for something. You were with scar head and ginger in a tent in the middle of the forest when the snatchers found you. What were you doing? You were on the run weren't you? Trying to find something? Something secret that you couldn't tell the order about." Damn him and his brains.

"You can assume all you like but I'm not going to tell you."

"Oh I really don't think you need to, I'll figure it out eventually." His familiar smirk had appeared on his face; his disgustingly annoying smirk.

"I don't care. But I need to go back."

"And what am I meant to do? I can't waltz in there and just say 'Hey look I can't go home because i saved your little friend over here so I thought you might be able to let me stay here.' That's not going to work Granger and you know it."

"I know it won't! Just let me bloody think!" His insufferable arguments were driving me up the wall, I just needed to think this over. Maybe there was a way to get in contact with them without them seeing Malfoy or them stopping me from carrying on.

"I'm not thick; I know what they'll do. Just let me think about this." Okay, so a way to speak to them or one of them, on my own. As I formed a plan in my mind Malfoy just sat there from across the room looking at me. I really wish he would stop doing that.

After 10 minutes, I'd formulated a plan."Okay. I think I've got it. I'll apparate to meet Tonks, I'll send her a message to get her to come meet me on her own, and then I'll tell her that I'm safe and that I'm in hiding with someone. I won't tell her who I'm with and I'll tell her I can't stay, that we've got to get on with the mission. It will be fine."

"Mission? What mission? And what do I do?" Damn. I'd mentioned the mission again.

"This will work. Tonks will understand, she'll let me go. You'll just have to stay here and I'll go, I'll be back before you know It." not only was I answering the question, I was trying to reassure myself that this plan could work, that it would work.

"I'm not about to let you walk out on your own and get captured by death eaters again!" he yelled. This both shocked and confused me.

"Why?" I said, not yelling, not screaming, I just plainly stated it. Now he was the confused one.

"Why what?" he said, eye brows furrowing.

"Why would you care if the deatheaters caught me?"

"Well... Urm..." He stammered.

Straightening his thoughts after a minute of confused silence, he continued. "Because I ruined my life, stunned my aunt, betrayed my entire family to save you, I'm will not let that become a waste. And if they catch you again they'll know that I've been with you. He'll search your mind and he'll find it. He'll find out where I am." He said. It seemed like he had was not only telling me but attempting to convince himself too.

"Right, yeah, obviously." I thought for a moment. "Okay so we'll apparate to near where they live. I'll send her a message telling her to meet me somewhere nearby. We'll configure your face and you can stay close in case anything happens. I'll talk to her and then we can go." I said.

He thought about that for a while. "Okay." We made eye contact and he nodded at me. I returned to my reading and he once again begun his never ending staring.


	5. Chapter 4: Inconspicuous

The next day, after further discussing the plan, changing in to the most muggle clothes we could find (much to Malfoy's annoyance) and packing up the tent, we apparated to a small country lane just outside of the town where Tonks and Remus now lived. I disfigured Malfoy's appearance so that his short blonde hair darkened and grew into a longer, brunette cut. I also changed his face; fattening his nose and turning his eyes into a dark green. He didn't like that.

"Did you really have to make me this ugly?" he said as he caught his reflection in a window we walked past as we headed to the cafe where I was to meet Tonks.

"Oh for Merlin's sake Malfoy, you're so vain!" He shot me a small smile. Wow, this was weird.

We were actually joking around. For the first time since we'd escaped the manor, we'd managed to talk in an unserious, serene manner. It shocked me to find out that it was actually quite nice; to actually get along, even if it was only for a minute.

I realised I was still looking at him and of course, he had noticed. He shot me a questioning look and I turned to carry on to the meeting point.

As we arrived I glanced in through the window and could see Tonks' brightly coloured hair as she sat in the corner of the room, face hiding behind the menu.

"I'll go in first, you follow in 2 minutes." I subtly whispered to Malfoy. He nodded in agreement.

As soon as I walked in the door, she saw me. Her head shot up and a look of pure joy and relief filled her expression. My heart flittered with happiness as I went to sit by my old friend whom I had missed.

Slowly taking out her wand, she performed the muffilato charm and then pointed its tip at me. "First thing I did when we met." She said with a stern voice.

"You tripped over the umbrella stand and woke up Mrs. Black." She analysed my face and finally, a huge smile spread across her lips. Standing up she grabbed me in for a tight hug, shoving her overly pregnant stomach between us. " I can't believe-... we were so worried Hermione! After the boys got in touch with us, things went crazy. They were about to send 20 members to Malfoy manor to rescue you before I got your message this morning." We sat back down, not wanting to draw attention to ourselves.

"Well? Are you going to tell me what happened then?" Oh no. What did I tell her? Of course, I'd planned out exactly what I was going to say but... seeing her in the flesh just made it all the more complicated. My eyes flickered to where Malfoy was sitting across the room. His eyes caught mine and he looked at me questioningly.

"I escaped." I said, bluntly. I knew if I went into too much detail she would push me to explain it all and I wouldn't be able to hold back. Then I'd be stuck here and Malfoy would be shipped off to some dungeon. Not that that later thought didn't have some appeal, but I knew I couldn't; even though I hated to admit it, I owed Malfoy my life and probably a lot of others that sat close to my heart. Keeping it short and to the point was in both our interests.

Tonks scoffed at my answer. "Wow, great details there Hermione, thanks for that."

"Look, I can't exactly go into much detail, here now can I?"

She thought about that for a moment. "Well let's go somewhere else then." She began to stand up.

"No!" I snapped. A look of shock crossed tanks' face. "I'm sorry, I can't."

She sat again and looked at me in such a confused, curious way that I was quilted into telling her more. Merlin, keep it brief Hermione.

"If I go back with you, you'll convince me to stay and I can't. I have to find the boys, carry on with the mission that was left to us."

"And how on earth do you plan on finding them Hermione?"

"I... I don't know. I haven't figured it out yet but at the moment I'm safe. I'm going to try and catch up with them."

"Safe? Hermione, if you think I'm about to let you traipse out of here to go and live on your own in the middle of nowhere all alone, you've got another thing coming-" I cut her off.

"I'm not alone!" I couldn't stop myself; it just catapulted out of my throat and hung in the now impending silence between us. "I'm not alone and I can't tell you who I'm with so please don't ask me to." For a long moment, she stared at me and then shifted her gaze to the distance, presumably trying to think. "I'm sorry, I am, but this is the way It has to be." I whispered. She didn't react.

Finally after two minutes of complete silence, she responded in a flat, straight to the point tone. "Are you safe with this person?"

Was i? My eyes flickered to the disguised Malfoy and noticed that he had begun to read the local news paper that had been sitting on the desk in front of him. He had saved my life and even though we had argued, he had never once even attempted to hurt me, never even called me the name that he used to taunt me with for the past 7 years. If we got attacked, he'd probably protect me. Not for me of course but for his own reasons; if I got caught, Voldemort would know what he had done, that he had second guessed his morals.

"I think so." Tonks looked straight at me, scrutinizing for even the slightest glimpse of uncertainty. Satisfied, she continued. "What about the boys? How are they going to know you're safe? All we got was a patronus telling us that you had been taken by snatchers and they can only work when you know exactly where the receiver is!"

Wow, good question. I hadn't even thought about that. Well at least they were taking the mature route and had contacted the order rather than bumbling in to Malfoy Manor and being caught within seconds. They were probably out of their heads with worry though. They needed to know that I was safe, but how?

"Potter watch." I mumbled. "Potterwatch, Tonks! They listen to it all the time!" I quickly searched through my bag for a pen and scribbled a message on the nearest napkin; "Otter is safe and hunting."

"Have Lupin say this on the next broadcast, they'll be the only ones to get it. Harry is the only one to have ever seen my patronus; he's the only one that will understand. Ron never put's down that stupid radio, they'll be listening, they'll hear and understand." Tonks nodded her head in agreement.

Looking at my watch, I realised that I'd already been here for half an hour now. It was only have meant to have taken 10. "I'm sorry, I've got to go, it's not safe for either of us to be here." She understood and we both slowly stood and left the cafe. Hugging me, she whispered into my ear. "Be safe Hermione. We're all here for us if you need it."

" You too Tonks" with one final look goodbye, she turned on her heal and walked down the road, casting disillusionment charms as she went.

I scurried down the road and turned into the alley way where I had planned to meet Malfoy.

After five minutes of waiting, he finally appeared. "What took you so-"he interrupted me.

"Snatchers." I darted my eyes to the opening of the alleyway and saw them. The exact same 5 men that had caught me a week ago. The ones that had captured me and taken me to my death.

"Malfoy, there the sa-"

"I know."

He grabbed my arm and began to pull me further into the alleyway, away from the looming snatchers. Trying to keep a normal, inconspicuous pace, we walked down the seemingly never ending alleyway. Subtly turning I realised that they were following us and that they were waling far faster than we were. However, if we were to run, they would automatically assume that something was wrong and chase us. No, remaining inconspicuous was the best option.

Realising that they were chasing us, Malfoy stopped. He just stopped and stood there, his face full of calculations.

"What are you doing? They're coming!"

"Do you trust me granger?" His eyes darted to mine and I knew my answer before it had even popped up into my head.

"No."

Suddenly his lips crashed down on to mine. Shocked into paralysis, I just stood there, eyes open, as he kissed me, trying to figure out what the hell he was thinking. Blood shot through my body and my heart beat instantly sped. I was letting Draco Malfoy, marked Death eater, attempted murderer of the greatest wizard alive, my friend and teacher, Albus Dumbledore, the boy that I had lived with for a week and whom I was most likely stuck with for the foreseeable future kiss me. And what shocked me even more, was that I liked it.

Finally, I gave into my hormones and kissed him back. He reacted instantly, grabbing my hips and pulling me closer as I ran my fingers for his now blonde hair.

As the snatchers approached us, Malfoy slowly pushed us back against the nearest wall, allowing them to pass, still captivated in our kiss. Begging that they wouldn't recognise us, I deepened the kiss in an attempt to further hide our faces.

They stopped directly behind us and I could hear rude comments and jeering. My heart beat jumped, if that were even possible, and it felt as though my heart was trying to punch its way through my chest. And then they walked on.

No wands drawn, no curses uttered. They simply jeered and carried on. I watched them out of the corner of my eye as they exited the alleyway and turned the corner and I instantly relaxed.

And then I realised that I was still lip locked with Malfoy.

Stepping back, I took in a deep raking breath and I just stared at him. I could feel my lips beginning to swell and my cheeks reddening. He had begun to correct his clothes and I did the same, straightening my jumper and attempting to scrape my escaping hair back into the frizzy ponytail that I'd clamped it into earlier that day. And then his eyes met mine.

"Well, that went well."


	6. Chapter 5: Unraveling

Tonks pulled through. Later that night, while camped out in a small nature park outside of Birmingham, we sat and listened to potterwatch and heard as his voice spoke out to the rest of the world assuring them that Harry was still alive. He ended his motivational message the way I had planned. "And now, a direct message to Harry Potter himself; the otter is safe and hunting. Thank you and good night. "

I quickly let out a deep breath that was much needed; for the last two days, my thoughts had been plagued by the idea of the order or Harry and Ron going on some whirlwind mission to save me which would only end in pain and bloodshed. Now I knew they were all safe. Now they all knew that I was safe. Smiling at this, I returned to my books, once again trying to figure out where the next horcrux would be.

It was incredibly hard trying to think like Voldemort. His life had been filled with such hatred and loneliness and those were the two things I had never felt. He had been rejected by his father and his mother, although she had great love for him, had died when he was born. He had been submitted to the life as an outcast as a young child, no one understanding him or his strange abilities. Only when he had gone to Hogwarts had he found sanctuary. Then, still tormented by his childhood, he had eventually turned into the incredibly dark wizard we knew today. Yet he was no longer lonely and was not fully hated; he had his followers, his death eaters. This bought my mind to Draco and I begun to watch him as he read one of the books I had lent him.

What had that been earlier today? I knew the reason we had kissed; so the snatchers couldn't recognise us. But what I didn't know was why I hadn't been disgusted by it and that maybe I had even liked it. But I couldn't have, could I? He was Draco Malfoy, the boy who had terrorized me for years, known man whore of Hogwarts and one of Voldemort's followers. But I couldn't deny it, I had enjoyed it and it wasn't because of my lack of experience and his overwhelming maturity in that subject. But I loved Ron and that kiss had meant nothing.

Hadn't it?

He had saved me at Malfoy Manor, from my probable death. He had stunned his own aunt, betrayed his parents and all they had stood for, betrayed one of the darkest wizards this earth had seen, therefore not only ruining but risking his life. I had thought that it had been due to guilt and selfishness; he didn't want any blood on his hands because he knew that if we won the war that would mean immediate incarceration into Azkaban. But was it more than that? It was quite easy to tell that he was not a loyal, fully fledged death eater and that he did not solely believe in that of what the death eater's prided themselves on. Although he hated all Mudbloods and made them, and therefore me, fully aware of it, I doubt he'd ever actually hurt one and although he had assisted in the Murder of Dumbledore, he'd never actually attempted it, even with his life depending on it.

What was I doing? Trying to justify my feelings for the kiss by questioning Malfoy's devotion to the dark side? Oh Merlin, I really needed to shift this from my head. It was just a kiss, an incredibly passionate kiss, but just a kiss.

_Bellatrix Lestrange leant over me. I heard the deep, whispered chant of the curse that she was performing, the curse that would soon mark my skin for the rest of my life. I felt the tip of her wand begin to gauge into my arm and the only thing that filled my mind and body was inexplicable pain. It surged through my very being until it had taken over. I could no longer feel it, no, the pain had become me. It was all I was anymore. It had torn at my insides until all that was left was an empty shell. There was no one here to save me, no knight in shining armour, no guardian angel. My fate was set; I would lie here and be tormented and tortured until either my mind or body could take no more. But there was a voice, a familiar voice, one that I couldn't place. It whisked my mind into a frenzy._

"For Merlin's sake Hermione will you wake up?"

I jolted up right, nearly colliding with Malfoy, who was leaning over me with a look of worry in his eyes. A thin layer of sweat covered my body and I had begun to shake. It had all been so real, the pain, the voice. I couldn't shake the piercing glare she had given me. Tears begun to roll down my face and I hurriedly wiped them away. I was not there, I had escaped and I was safe. I began to chant this in my mind; I am safe.

"Sorry" I eventually croaked out, my throat scratching at every breath, like sandpaper.

"Are you ok?" he whispered. I nodded.

"You were screaming pretty loudly." My eyes snapped to him.

"Well sorry but you're Aunt Bella took a liking to causing me pain and tortured me pretty badly less than a month ago, it's going to take some time to get over. " he flinched at the mention of his aunt torturing me.

"You think I don't know that? I had to watch you know, and not just you, you weren't the only one they tortured. I was trapped there for months and every day they'd find someone new to torture and they all made me watch, every time. I may not know exactly what it feels like to be on the end of those curses, but I sure as hell have seen it." He yelled. I just looked at him and again, tears started to form at the corner of my eyes. Noticing this, he sighed.

"I'm sorry." I whispered again. His eyes glazed over me, checking if I was okay and his hand flinched once he found the scar that now sat on my left arm. I tried to cover it, tugging my blankets up but he reached out with his right hand and took my wrist. His grip wasn't forceful however, it was warm and gentle, caring even. He sat and looked at it for a few moments and then lifted his own left arm, yanking up his sleeve.

I gasped at the sight of the black serpent that resided on his arm. I had forgotten about the mark and I had never seen it myself. Harry had told me about it though, that Malfoy now had one. He placed his arm next to mine.

"I guess we're both branded because of who we are." He whispered, still gazing at our arms with a dark look on his face.

"You're not a death eater Malfoy."

"Oh? Well I kind of got the impression that that was the whole point in having this permanently engraved onto my Arm." he said sarcastically.

"Just because that's who you're family may or may not be does not mean you have to follow them. You're not like them. You couldn't kill Dumbledore and you saved me. It's obvious that you don't believe in what he says."

"Oh and I suppose you're a mind reader now are you granger?" he scowled.

"No, but I am logical and I know that if any other deatheaters were given the job of killing Dumbledore, they would have done it in a blink of an eye lid and not one other deatheater would have even winced at the sight of me being..." it was hard to say without anger forcing it out. "Being tortured, let alone save me. You're not evil Malfoy and as soon as you accept it, the sooner I can help you."

Knowing that I could never return to sleep after that nightmare, I crawled out of my bed and went to sit in the living room with my books, leaving Malfoy to think over what I had said.


	7. Chapter 6: Questioning

After that conversation, things went back to normal. We moved around a lot and I spent most days reading up on horcruxes. Yet, things had become less unbearable. We argued less and I caught Malfoy staring at me more and more often. Things weren't great or even good but surprisingly things had become comfortable. It no longer disgusted me to be in his presents and I know longer felt the need to watch him like a hawk and I found myself relaxing more and more in his presence. Gone was the snarky, blood hater that we all knew and hated.

Don't get me wrong, he was no saint and nor would he become one any time soon. But he had stopped being, Well, mean. He didn't pick up on small things, never made any harsh comments and he still hadn't used his oh so lovely nickname for me since the manor. I couldn't decide if this solitude had turned him crazy or he was simply becoming just as comfortable as I was.

We had even managed to hold the odd conversation, discussing topics that we had read in books, about those we knew and who had been announced as missing or dead on potterwatch, joking while cooking tea. Yes, things had defiantly become more relaxed since our visit to see Tonks. And I couldn't help but think that it had something to do with that kiss.

When I thought about it, it sent chills up my spine so I had forced myself to block it out. I had too much on my mind to be thinking about a lousy kiss with Draco Malfoy. However, something else was nagging at the back of my mind.

After reliving the Manor in my dreams every night, something had flashed into my head and I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought about it before. Bellatrix wanted to know where I'd got the sword of Gryffindor. That was why she had tortured me. She had seemed determined to find how I'd got it and even came across quite scared. But I couldn't fathom why.

I pondered this for days, wondering why she wanted to know, where she'd thought that I'd gotten it from, why she was so determined to find out. I had a feeling that she had mentioned it at the manor but after all the torture, I really couldn't remember all of it. I only had one option.

We were sitting in a clearing on a mountainside in Wales. It being a cold albeit sunny day, we were seated outside the tent, overlooking the mountain side, reading as usual. There was no evading it; I had to know why or it would bother me forever.

"Malfoy?" I said, looking up from my book.

For a few moments he simply ignored me. I was about to ask again when he looked up from his book.

"Yes?" he answered in an unusually soft tone.

"Something's been bothering me lately, something I can't remember about the manor and I thought... well I thought you might be able to tell me something." He looked straight at me, like he was trying to see where this was leading too. His brow furrowed.

"If you're going to ask me why I saved you, I've told you, I don't remember." He said, colder and returned his gaze to his book.

"No, it's not that!" he sighed and then looked back at me.

"Fine then, go ahead. " I chewed my lip, considering how to ask. Probably best to just come out with it, i thought.

"Your au- Bellatrix. She wanted to know where I'd got the sword but I can't remember exactly what she said." He stared at me for a few seconds, eyes full of curiosity.

"She said that it was supposed to be in our vault at Gringotts. She wanted to know how you'd gotten to it. "

I was shocked by this. The only reason I could think of was that she still thought that the sword was missing and wanted to know how we'd found it for pure curiosity. I hadn't expected something like that.

He continued.

"When I was at the manor, Snape asked us to put the sword in our vault because some student was trying to steal it from his office. Weaslette I think. " I was to busy thinking to reprimand him for the nickname for Ginny.

Why had Snape put it in The Malfoy vault? Surely a family with a bloodline as old and pure as Snape's would have their own vault just as well protected as the Malfoy's. Why would he do that? And why was Bellatrix so worried that I'd got it? Did she think that I had been to the vault? Why would that scare her so much? Was there something else in her vault that she was trying to protect?

I had eventually come to the conclusion that there was no conclusion, not one worth me wasting precious horcrux thinking time over anyway.

I wondered if Ron and Harry had had any luck finding them. Had they figured out where the others could be? Had they found some other way to destroy them? I'd had no luck at figuring out where the others could be.

The logical choice would be Hogwarts. That was where he, Voldemort and Harry alike, had first felt at home. But although he had begun to question about horcruxes in his last few years of his Hogwarts education, Dumbledore didn't think that he had actually started creating them till years later.

But he had returned hadn't he? He had tried to apply for a teaching job a few years after graduating. Dumbledore assumed that he had gone directly to his office upon entrance to the castle and left straight away after being shot down. Was Dumbledore wrong? Could he have side tracked? Or even left a horcrux in the grounds?

No, that was highly improbable. It was highly illogical to leave something so precious in a place where it could so easily be found, in a school packed full of children and right under Dumbledore's nose. Even Voldemort couldn't have been that stupid.

I had tried to shake the sword thoughts from my head but with no luck. I couldn't help but think that I was missing something and that scared me.

What was it? I went through the facts thousands of times in my head; Ginny had tried to steal the sword of Gryffindor from Snape and he had for some reason, placed it in the Malfoy vault. When Bellatrix found me with it, she had jumped to the conclusion that I had broken into her vault and stolen it, never mind how impossible that task would actually be. Did she know something about the sword that we didn't? Or was it something else?

Was Bellatrix hiding something in her vault? Something that was far more important and for somebody far more important than the sword? Had Lord Voldemort trusted his most dependable servant with a piece of his soul?

a/n: dun dun dun dun...

Sorry that this took me forever to write! I just lost all motivation and inspiration to write this week and this is kind of a filler section in the story, I'm just trying to get it to where it needs to be for the interesting stuff to happen again :')

Thank you for reading!


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